It’s funny when you think about it. Manny Pacquiao has been aching to get back at Timothy Bradley because Bradley received an unjust split-decision victory in their fight in June 2012. But Bradley wants Pacquiao just as badly and he, too, can’t wait for the rematch next Saturday at MGM Grand in Las Vegas — the scene of the crime of their first bout.

The fun can be caught on HBO pay-per-view.

Even though the first go-round took place less than two years ago, it must seem like five to Bradley. He won’t admit it, but he has to know in his heart he received a gift when two of the three judges scored him the winner.

Either way, the scoring wasn’t his fault. But he and Bob Arum — who promotes both fighters — received death threats in the aftermath, and Bradley was not able to enjoy for one minute his so-called victory that netted him, if nothing else, Pacquiao’s welterweight championship.

Bottom line is, the second time around is nearly upon us. Bradley can shed all the demons with a victory.

“Absolutely, I have a lot to prove in this fight,” he said. “And No. 1 is that the first fight was not a fluke. There were a lot of things that happened in the first fight that weren’t right. This time I will be 100 percent ready. I have gained a lot of experience from my last two fights on HBO and HBO pay-per-view — one in particular, the one against Marquez, who is a great champion and a great fighter. Legendary.”

“And the fight against Provodnikov, the Fight of the Year,” Bradley said, referring to his brutal title defense against Ruslan Provodnikov in March 2013 at Home Depot Center. “So I am a different fighter now. A different beast, a different animal this time around, and I am going to prove to the fans and everybody watching.”

Right there it sounds like Bradley knows he lost.

“I got the win, but it felt like I lost because I didn’t get any credit from the fans,” he said, “and it’s important to get the credit from the fans. I feel I need to showcase myself and win by a large margin.”

Bradley, who says both of his feet were injured by the fourth round in that first fight, has been popping off a lot more than he usually does during a promotion. Actually, Bradley rarely talks smack. But he has made no bones about the notion that Pacquiao is not the vicious fighter he once was.

“When was the last time you saw him knock somebody out?” Bradley, of Palm Springs, said during a conference call this week. “It’s been a long time. Then he had a guy sitting in front of him, he was a tough guy — Brandon Rios, I have a lot of respect for — but he was right there in front of him and he couldn’t get rid of him.”

Pacquiao won a wide decision over Rios in November, but he has not had a knockout in seven fights since stopping Miguel Cotto in the 12th round in November 2009.

“He is supposed to be one of the vicious punchers in the game,” Bradley said of Pacquiao, who is 55-5-2 with 38 knockouts. “I have never seen Manny Pacquiao take a step back before. I think it was the last round of the Rios fight and he had Rios trapped in the corner and you saw Manny take his foot off the gas pedal and it was unbelievable to me. In our fight, I had two wounded feet and he couldn’t take me out.

“What makes you think he can take me out with two good feet?”

Bradley (31-0, 12 KOs) went so far as to suggest Pacquiao becoming too compassionate toward his opponents in the ring is “not good for boxing.”

It’s hard to argue with that logic.

Bradley isn’t the only one in his camp who felt the crush of what happened in that first fight. His trainer, Joel Diaz, suffered along with his fighter. Don’t think he doesn’t want the chance to guide his fighter to a win so certain, even the most dedicated Pacquiao fan won’t be able to beef about it.

“He is very ready to come to Vegas and ruin the party for a lot of people,” Diaz said of Bradley. “But this time it is going to be very decisive and there will be no doubt.”

Luis Collazo gets in military training

OK, so the headline is a bit misleading. Former welterweight champion Luis Collazo is not in the military, but he is training for his big May 3 fight against Amir Khan at Fort Jackson, a U.S. Army base in Columbia, S.C.

Collazo, of Brooklyn, has been training there for most of his fights since 2008. For good reason.

“I love coming down here, it’s a great place to focus before a big fight,” he said. “The atmosphere in Fort Jackson is great. It’s simply an amazing place to train. The troops inspire me. They are disciplined and loyal and they push themselves to the limit.

“I admire them. I always gain inspiration from being around them.”

Collazo won the welterweight title in 2005 and lost it to Ricky Hatton in his second defense. Collazo, 32, knocked out Victor Ortiz in the second round in his most recent fight Jan. 30 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

If Collazo gets a victory over Khan — the former super lightweight champion from England — he could find himself back in the mix for a shot at another world title.

“Khan is a good fighter, he’s fought some good guys, but he better be ready for me,” Collazo said. “I’m going to bring something he hasn’t seen before.”

Collazo is 35-5 with 18 knockouts. Khan, 27, is 28-3 with 19 knockouts. They will tangle on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Marcos Maidana welterweight title-unification bout (on Showtime pay-per-view).

ETC

The officials for Bradley-Pacquiao II have been selected. The referee will be Kenny Bayless, one of the best in the business. The three judges will be Glenn Trowbridge of Nevada, Michael Pernick of Florida and John Keane of Great Britain. … Bernard Hopkins (54-6-2, 32 KOs) of Philadelphia and Beibut Shumenov (14-1, 9 KOs) of Kazakhstan are two weeks away from their light heavyweight title-unification bout that will take place at DC Armory in Washington D.C. (on Showtime). Hopkins, the ageless wonder, is 49. Shumenov is 30. … Josesito Lopez (31-6, 18 KOs) of Riverside will tangle with Aron Martinez (19-4-1, 4 KOs) of East L.A. on April 24 at Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage (on ESPN2). Lopez, 29, made headlines when he broke the jaw of Victor Ortiz, stopping Ortiz after nine rounds on June 23, 2012, at Staples Center.

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